FTR #343 Mein Jihad Pt 2 – Old Complicities That Go Back to the 1930s

Introduction: Providing a thought-provoking supplement to previous programs on the topic, this broadcast continues discussion of the terrorist blitzkrieg of 9/11/2001. (For more on this subject, see FTR 325-342, 344-346. Note: due to the rapid evolution of information on the attacks, programs analyzing the event have been deferred to after FTR’s 342, 343, envisioned as presenting such analysis. Discussion of the 9/11/2001 attacks will be continuing indefinitely.)

Program Highlights Include:The Muslim Brotherhood’s alignment with the Axis powers in World War II; the Brotherhood’s long association with the CIA in the postwar period; the Brotherhood’s adoption of the Corporate State of Mussolini as its economic agenda; Bank Al-Taqwa Youssef Nada’s work as a Nazi spy in World War II; the Bank Al-Taqwa’s association with Nazi financier Francois Genoud.

1. This program sets forth development of the phenomenon of “Islamofascism,” previously discussed in FTR 329, 330, 340, 342. (This should not be misunderstood as characterizing Islam as fascist—rather, the term refers to a powerful element overlapping the worlds of Islam and international fascism.) Central to the analysis presented here is an international Islamic fundamentalist organization called the Muslim Brotherhood, believed by many to the involved with terrorism in general, and Al Queda in particular. (It should be noted that the Muslim Brotherhood denies such involvement.) focuses on the milieu of Nada Management (formerly Al Taqwa), alleged by U.S. intelligence and other investigators to be involved with international terrorism and Al Queda.

2. Beginning with the quote from which the broadcast derives its title, the program highlights an interesting observation by an Egyptian analyst. Discussing the diaspora of the Brotherhood following its expulsion from Egypt, he discussed the establishment of Munich as a primary base of operations. “ ‘Why Munich, why Germany?’ I asked Rifaat Said. ‘Because there, one finds old complicities that go back to the late 1930’s, when the Muslim Brothers collaborated with the agents of Nazi Germany. . .By soaking up the savings of these Muslim workers, Yussef Nada, like Said Ramadan, took advantage of an extremely favorable context and used it as a springboard for the Muslim Brothers’ economic activities.’” (Dollars for Terror: The United States and Islam; by Richard Labeviere; Copyright 2000 [SC]; Algora Publishing; ISBN 1-892941-06-6; p. 153.)

3. The broadcast sets forth the apparent relationship between Said Ramadan (of the Muslim Brotherhood) and Saudi Arabia, a primary source of funding for the Brotherhood. (Idem.)

4. Nada himself is alleged to have been agent of the Abwehr, the military intelligence service of the Third Reich. “But Yussef Nada is even better-known to the Egyptian [intelligence] services, who have evidence of his membership in the armed branch of the fraternity of the Muslim Brothers in the 1940’s. At that time, according to the same sources, he was working for the Abwehr under Admiral Canaris and took part in a plot against King Farouk. This was not the first time that the path of the Muslim Brothers crossed that of the servants of the Third Reich.” (Ibid.; 140-141.)

5. Next, the broadcast delineates Labaviere’s allegations concerning the profound relationship between the Saudis, the Muslim Brotherhood, elements of U.S. intelligence and the Bin Laden organization. “Many times over, American, European and Arab diplomats and public officials advised me to follow the trail of ‘the dollars of terror.’ . . Every time, I was brought back to both the official and the secret structures of Saudi finance. Every time, I stumbled on the fraternity of the Muslim Brothers. . .Where does the money for this dangerous proselytism come from? . . . Saudi Arabia and other oil monarchies allied with the United States. The greatest world power is fully aware of this development. Indeed, its information [intelligence] agencies have encouraged it . . . . The CIA and its Saudi and Pakistani homologues continue [as of 1999] to sponsor Islamism.” (Ibid.; pp. 14-15.) (It should be noted in this context that the CIA and other American intelligence services are not homogenous. There are profound factions and divisions between, and among them. The CIA, in particular, is highly factionalized. In other programs about the 9/11/2001 attacks, Mr. Emory has underscored his belief that elements of American intelligence, allied with Islamofascism (or “Islamism”) and the “Underground Reich” betrayed and attacked the United States. One should not forget that politics is a complicated affair. Powerful elements in the U.S. supported fascism, and yet the country ended up in a very real war against fascism. The situation vis-à-vis the September 11 attacks is analogous. It should be noted in this context that Mr. Emory strongly supports the war, although he is not at all sure that it is being prosecuted correctly. The Bush family is on “the other side,” in his opinion.)

6. Highlighting the political inclinations of the “Fraternity” (Labaviere’s nickname for the Muslim Brotherhood), the program sets forth the fascist orientation of this organization. “The history of the Fraternity makes the Brothers’ concept of the Islamic State clear: a theocratic State of fascistic inspiration. . . .Some of them were fellow travelers of the Nazis, and are still trying today to resuscitate the old alliance of Islamism and the swastika.” (Ibid.; p. 121.)

7. “Muhammad Said al-Ashmawy continued: ‘All my research always brings me back to the same point: at the beginning of this process of the perversion of Islam are the Muslim Brothers, an extreme Right cult.’. . . An extreme Right cult? ‘The history of the Muslim Brothers is infused and fascinated by fascistic ideology,’ Said al-Ashmawy adds. ‘Their doctrines, their total (if not totalitarian) way of life, takes as a starting point the same obsession with a perfect city on earth, in conformity with the celestial city whose organization and distribution of powers they can discern through the lens of their fantastical reading of the Koran.’ This ‘Fascistic affiliation’ would crop up in the analyses of several of our interlocutors, in particular that of the journalist Eric Rouleau, who is a specialist in the Middle East, former French ambassador to Tunisia and Turkey.” (Ibid.; p. 124.)

8. Next, the program sets forth temporal coincidences between the development of the Muslim Brotherhood and key dates in the development of international fascism. The organization was created in 1929, the year that the Lateran Treaty[4] between the Vatican and Mussolini made Roman Catholicism the official state religion of fascist Italy and incorporated elements of Catholic dogma into the legal code of the nation. (Ibid.; pp. 125-126.)

9. As noted in FTR 332 and FTR 340, the fascists used anti-colonial sentiment in the Third World to recruit confederates against Britain and France. The Muslim Brotherhood was utilized in this fashion. “Lastly, the emergence and the rise to power of Fascism, hostile to French and British colonialism, gave rise to many analogies with corporatist propaganda and the methods of mobilization of Mussolini’s gangs.” (Ibid.; p. 126.)

10. The theocratic fascism of the Brotherhood was enunciated by the organization’s founder Hassan al-Banna. “‘Islam is doctrine, divine worship, the fatherland, the nation, religion, spirituality, the Koran and the sword.’” (Idem.) In 1933 (the year that Hitler became Chancellor of Germany), al-Banna moved to Cairo and assumed the title of “supreme guide” (leader) of the Brotherhood. (Ibid.; p. 126.)

11. In 1939 (the year that World War II began), the Brotherhood adopted its Koran-based constitution. (Ibid.; pp. 126-127.)

12. Further highlighting the comparisons between the Brotherhood’s program and those of Mussolini and Hitler, the broadcast continues. “Taking Italy’s choices under Mussolini for inspiration, the economic program set three priorities . . . The social policy foresaw a new law on labor, founded on corporations. This economic program would more directly reveal its relationship to totalitarian ideologies a few years later, with the works of Mohamed Ghazali . . . . Mohamed Ghazali recommended ‘an economic regimen similar to that which existed in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.’ . . . The moral code is also an important component in this program, which is intended to create the ‘new Muslim man.’ . . . The notion of the equality of the sexes is inherently negated by the concept of the supremacy of male social responsibilities. . .the ‘natural’ place of the woman is in the home.” (Ibid.; p. 127.)

13. Next the program sets forth the support of the Muslim Brother for the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. (Ibid.; p. 128.)

14. Next, the program delineates the operations of the Brotherhood on behalf of the Axis. “. . . in 1942, the Fraternity clandestinely established its military branch. This came to light in a spectacular way with the assassination, while the Parliament was in full session on February 24, 1945, of Prime Minister Ahmad Maher (he had just declared war on the axis powers).” (Ibid.; p. 129.)

15. The second half of the program begins with information about the collaboration of the Brotherhood in the postwar assassination of Egyptian political figures, as well as the 1947 war against Israel. (Idem)

16. Underscoring the economic element of the Muslim Brotherhood, the program discusses the “Ismail” referered to in FTR 342. (“Im Wunderland des Hasses”; by Johannes von Dohnanyi; Weltwoche; Ausgabe 01/2002.)

17. “. . . alongside Yussef Nada, there is another Egyptian, I.S. (called ‘Ismail’), who oversees matters connected with several holding companies in which the bank is a shareholder. Director of the company ‘Spacetronic Salah International,’ an electronic products company that trades mainly with Sudan, this former member of the armed branch of the Brothers followed the same route as Yussef Nada, his alter ego.” (Dollars for Terror, p. 152.)

18. Next, the program discloses that Afghanistan was chosen by the Brotherhood as the geographical epicenter of the Islamic fundamentalist movement. “‘At the time, he saw that holy war [against the Soviet Union] as heralding the creation of a future Islamic in Afghanistan,’ adds his former counterpart. ‘At the time, the Fraternity saw that country as the first site for the re-founding of the Caliphate, the only political structure likely to unite all the Muslims one day.’” (Ibid.; pp. 134-135.)

19. Much of the rest of the discussion of the Labaviere book involves analysis of the role of economics in the Brotherhood’s program. “Nothing official, of course. . .many tradesmen, who will never acknowledge their links with the Fraternity, but whose profits flow into the Islamic banks and capital investment companies that, for their part, operated in broad daylight in the 1980’s. . . .The Fraternity’s economic apparatus pursues the same goal as the military apparatus: the obligatory reunification of the Muslim community. . . .Islamic finance: the extension of the ‘holy war’ by other means.” (Ibid.; pp. 135-136.) (Listeners will recognize the last quote as adapted from Karl vojn Clausewitz.)

20. Mr. Emory emphasizes his view that the economic structure of the Brotherhood is part of the Bormann organization and the Underground Reich. The economic and political component of a Third Reich gone underground, the Bormann organization controls corporate Germany and much of the rest of the world. [It was created and run by Martin Bormann, the organizational genius who was the “the power behind the throne” in Nazi Germany.]

21. One of the primary elements of the Bormann organization is the Thyssen-Bornemisza organization, headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland (the base for Youssef Nada’s operations.)

22. The program further explores the career of Ahmed Huber discussed in past programs about Al Taqwa. (Ibid.; p. 141.)

24. Huber is also connected to occult fascist elements in Europe, with links going back to the early 1920’s. (Ibid.; p. 143.)

25. Among those elements are the Thule society, in turn connected to Adolf Hitler, through his deputy, Rudolf Hess and the German geopolitician Karl Haushofer. (Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International; by Kevin Coogan; Autonomedia; Copyright 1999 [SC]; ISBN 1-57027-039-2; p. 69.)

29. Genoud was introduced to the Iranian fundamentalists by Huber. (Dollars for Terror: The United States and Islam; p. 144.)
30. Nada’s firm closed following disclosure of allegations concerning association between Nada and Bin Laden. (“Swiss Firm Closes Amid Inquiry;” [Reuters]; New York Times; 1-10-2002; p. A14.) .)

31. The broadcast closes with discussion of the relationship between Saudi intelligence, elements of the CIA, Bin Laden and the Muslim Brotherhood. (Dollars for Terror: The United States and Islam; pp. 117-118.)